Premier Gordon Campbell’s Guest Blog
Credit: Frozen Reflections Photography (used with permission)
A few days ago, Premier Gordon Campbell (leader of the British Columbia Liberals) offered to answer up to 5 bloggers’ questions and be a guest writer on our blogs. I’m glad I was one of the 5 bloggers whose questions were answered, given that I’m the editor of the non-partisan, pluralistic blog BC Vote. Furthermore, having taught Public Policy before (and knowing that my former students would expect me to be involved in the policy-making life of British Columbia) and being interested in environmental policy and politics in the province that I call home, it makes sense for me to write more about politics and policy in BC (although I have done so in the past, just for the record). I actually think one of my best posts was this one (Putting back the public in public policy). Premier Gordon Campbell’s responses to my questions are presented below. Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions!
Q: Give me 3 reasons to vote for each one of the other parties (NOT to vote for yours).
A: I think everyone entering public life does so to make a positive contribution. Having said that, it should come as no surprise that I would not actually vote for the other parties. The NDP’s policies would put jobs at risk and that’s something I can’t and won’t defend. I do think the Green Party is committed to the environment and that is good but I believe the way to restore it is through a strong economy.
I would encourage all voters to compare platforms and decide what direction they feel would works the best to keep BC strong. The BC Liberal Platform can be found at http://www.bcliberals.com/platform/
Q: Explain to me what the main differences you see in your platform as opposed to the other parties
A: The BC Liberal platform lowers costs on the economy, and lays a foundation for job creation with lower taxes and sound fiscal management. We know from experience that leaving more money in people’s pockets and reducing the cost of doing business actually stimulates the economy and is an incentive for job creation. In contrast, the NDP’s platform adds more than $1 billion in new taxes, including a tax aimed at our resource industries that is expected to cost our province 60,000 jobs. According to the Chamber of Commerce, the additional wage costs the NDP plan on adding to small business will result in 50,000 jobs lost. In today’s economy, we can’t afford to lose even one job. Finally, the NDP have a platform that adds billions in deficits which are taxes on the future. They are still making up their budget as they go along and that creates real uncertainty at a time when we need to build stability and confidence.
Q: Explain to me your social media strategy, long term.
A: I don’t think anyone can predict where social media will be headed in the future. If you think back five years, Facebook was brand new and very few people were using it. The Twitterverse hadn’t even been invented. People, especially younger people, are looking for ways they can access information efficiently and conveniently and stay in touch in real time. Technology is changing faster than many of our social institutions. But it is changing them. Social media, in particular, provides new opportunities for people to engage with politics and government.
As has been said: “Things will change less in the next two years than we expect, but far more in the next 10 years.” We all have to find time to learn how to use these new technologies to make our lives better.
NOTE – In the spirit of full disclosure and pluralism I have also contacted the offices of the Leaders of the NDP and Green Party to ask if Ms. Carole James and Ms. Jane Sterk would be interested in answering similar questions and/or guest post on my blog.
Related posts:
- Why blog (Guest post by @WhatsForLunch)
- Accessorize Your Blog: Top Ten Ways to Maximize Reader Experience (WCFV talk)
- Guest post by Jane Sterk – Leader of the Green Party in British Columbia
- Gregor Robertson is the new Mayor-elect of Vancouver
- Canadian elections results 2008 and poverty – Blog Action Day 2008
I think it’s great how Campbell is answering bloggers questions like this, and I like how he’s been using twitter. I remember at first Carole James was twittering “in a vacuum” (following no-one) and I remember last Sunday Jane Sterk updated, from the web, during the Leader’s Debate – guess we caught her ghostwriter in action!
As a green-conscious university student, I definitely think it’s important to look to the future. I think the Greens get points for their great ideas, but they strike me as being too idealistic (a jaded university student – imagine that!)… their plans just won’t and can’t work. I think that when we build “towards tomorrow” we focus on both the environment and the economy (the Two E’s). A strong economy can build a strong environment, but a strong environment can’t neccessarily build a strong economy. I mean, that’s just a truth about life.
I think that if I was broke, I wouldn’t care as much about the environment – I’d care more about living day-to-day than living years down the road. Fortunately, thanks to a relatively strong economy I’m able to stay employed and because of it, I can care more about the environment. I think creating these green conscious jobs through IPP development and everything is great, too.
I think that as long as the Liberals continue to strive to strengthening our economy and our environment, they have my vote. Carole James’ “axe the tax” campaign just reeks of political opportunism, and considering that the NDP is one party we could traditionally rely on to work on our environment, that’s just sad. Environmentalists have lauded the carbon tax, even calling it the best policy in Canada. One of its failings is that it lacks cap-and-trade, something both the Liberals offer and something the NDP offers. The shame, though, is that the NDP would axe one and keep the other.
Good questions Raul. Thanks for asking them. It was good to read through the answers and give me some more clarity.
While I will *not* be voting for Mr. Campbell and the Liberals, I respect Raul so much that I actually read this post from top to bottom.
Good questions. I still feel a bit frustrated around public engagement, especially with the youth vote. Campaigns seem to talk at people, not to them. Thanks to Premier Campbell for responding.
q1… to much at stake to say he would vote for another party for whatever reason …
q2…good question…typical political answer
q3…very good question …..and his answer shows that he has vision …. kennedy was the 1st politician to really take the media and use it to his advantage …..
Maggie, as someone actively engaged in a political campaign (a liberal campaign at that) and someone who typically spends 10-14 hours a day attached to the internet I can’t help but share an opinion or two. Apologies if this comes off as ranty, it probably is…
There is no way in hell that the politician him/herself has the time in their schedule (during the campaign) to actively engage with the public, I gather that you understand that based on your wording.
To me this means the best case scenario (for two way communication) is a buffer between the people and the politician, regardless of the medium, we all know that people have their favourite forms of communication.
- you @politician
- buffer passes message to @politician
- @politician responds to buffer
- buffer passes response to you
The ideal buffer would be someone very close to the politician who is proficient with various forms of communication. Realistically though, the buffer is going to involve various people and time, all the while keeping in mind that this PUBLIC correspondence is subject to extreme scrutiny. This probably scares the shit out of anyone who doesn’t understand these new forms of communication.
We can teach people how to send a txt message to twitter to talk about what they’re doing, or to upload some pictures from a rally to facebook but it’s not yet fair to expect them to live/eat/breath these new forms of media while still leading a happy/healthy personal life all the while doing their part in running the province.
I think it’s up to “we the experts” and our various skillsets to realize these communications gaps, come up with solutions for them and bring them forward. Raul has shown us just one example of how this is possible by publishing this guest post from Gordon Campbell, if every blogger in BC approached their local candidates with the opportunity to guest post, I think we’d see a lot more of the real issues being talked about, instead of the attacks and “he said she said” business.
What’s promising though is that I can say first hand that within BC (at least provincially) the major parties understand the importance of new media, they’re bringing young people into the process (internally) in a big way and really letting them run with their ideas.